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FS2002 vs FS2004 Terrain Resolution

Theory vs practice

The following table shows the theoretical maximum resolution you would see displayed in Flight Simulator at the various settings of Terrain Max Vertex Level assuming that a terrain mesh of sufficiently high compiled resolution was provided. 

Terrain Max Vertex Level Max Terrain Display Resolution Max Terrain Mesh LOD Required
19 ~76.4 LOD 9
20 ~38.2 LOD 10
21 ~19.1 LOD 11
22 ~9.6 LOD 12
23 ~4.8 LOD 13

In practice, both FS2002 and FS2004 have hard-wired limits in the code which restricts the maximum terrain resolution displayed even when a higher resolution terrain mesh scenery is used and a higher max vertex level specified in the Flight Simulator configuration file.

Terrain Max Vertex Level Max Terrain Resolution displayed in FS2002 Max Terrain Resolution displayed in FS2004
19 ~76.4 ~76.4
20 ~38.2 ~38.2
21 ~19.1 ~38.2
22 ~19.1 ~38.2
23 ~19.1 ~38.2

The key points to observe in the above table are that FS2002 is limited to displaying terrain vertices every ~19.1m while FS2004 is limited to displaying terrain vertices every ~38.2m.

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Copyright © 2004 John Farrie (Visual Flight).